I have been hard at work uncovering the changes The Wind Waker HD, and noticed several days ago that the Hero’s Charm was missing. For years, I have had a habit of using the Grappling Hook to collect Joy Pendants from Bokoblins, and I quickly accumulate enough Joy Pendants to obtain rewards from Miss Marie.

Oddly, Miss Marie did not give me the Hero’s Charm as expected. I decided to keep giving her more Joy Pendants to see if the requirements had changed. However, I reached the maximum 99 Joy Pendants and did not receive the Hero’s Charm.

For some time, I assumed the Hero’s Charm had been removed from the game, but then decided to search in new places. I spent hours (seriously, hours) sailing around looking for new treasure charts (there are some new treasure charts in the game) and exploring each island, but I had no luck finding the Hero’s Charm.

Today, I decided to take a break from my search and finish collecting the Triforce of Courage. I saved the Savage Labyrinth for last, and, after collecting the Triforce shard, I decided to continue to the bottom of the Savage Labyrinth to collect the Piece of Heart (no need to do to the entire labyrinth a second time).

To my surprise, I was not rewarded with a Piece of Heart. Instead, I found the Hero’s Charm.

It does seem very strange that you would be rewarded with the Hero’s Charm after completing a 50-floor labyrinth filled with almost every enemy in the game. The Hero’s Charm only use is to allow you to see the health bars of enemies, but now, once you obtain it, you will already be extremely familiar with fighting every enemy in the game.

Other than the odd location, the Hero’s Charm seems to work the same as before. It appears on the Quest Item screen and can be activated by tapping on the icon.

Moving the Hero’s Charm to the Savage Labyrinth means that there is a Piece of Heart in a new location as well. Examining the in-game maps, it becomes clear that the Piece of Heart is now found using a treasure chart. The new treasure chart is located on Pawprint Isle and replaces the silver rupee that was previously found there. The treasure chart can be obtained as soon as you have the Grappling Hook.

There are dozens of small changes in The Wind Waker HD, but this is one of the bigger changes. None of the other sidequests have been changed in this way (except perhaps the Tingle Statues, which are still a complete mystery and may have been removed).

I have nearly completed The Wind Waker HD, and we will have a full review in the next week!